Thursday, 7 January 2016

Review: American Terror AnniverSERIES edition

Story: Jeff McComsey, James Cooper

Art: Jeff McComsey

Letters: Jeff McComsey

Publisher: Alterna Comics

Release date: 6th January 2016

In the wake of Alterna's celebration of its ten year anniversary comes another helping of it's AnniverSERIES line. American terror was initially told over two volumes in 2008, 2009. This editon is a little glimpse into its world, a peek through the curtains at the story contained within.

What a cracking story you can see there too.

I only recently became aware of McComsey's work when I reviewed 'Mother Russia' (see the archive if you're interested) and I was instantly impressed. That trend continues with American Terror, it digs intriguing claws into you from the first page.

American Terror tells the story of Victor Sheppard, an old man in a new world. It's November 11th in the year 2041 and in the wake of the War of the Third World a time of peace and prosperity reigns. But Victor remembers the cost of the new world and haunted by it, he tells his story.

Sorry to delve into a synopsis, but you have to admit it's got quite a hook, and McComsey and Cooper make the whole story just as compelling. This is a shining paradigm of independent comics at their finest, an example of unbridled creativity allowing stories to take shape.

The story is well written and fleshed out, flowing with good pace. In this edition Sheppard is the protagonist and despite his apparent taciturn nature, he is characterised well and you find yourself inexplicably drawn to him. You want to hear more of his past, of his story.

McComsey displays his usual internal synergy between story and art. His mastery of sequential storytelling is really rather spectacular. Sheppard, both his young and old iterations are well drawn and show consistency that is, well, consistent with McComsey's style.

This book is rife with action sequences and McComsey's art holds a kinetic quality that make it a joy to pour over the pages.

In short this a fantastic comic. I read this AnniverSERIES editon rather quickly and immediately sought out volume one to discover the rest of the story. Everything about this book is excellent, the story, the artwork, the fluidity of the panels.

This comic is well worth a purchase, I really cannot recommend it enough. It was fun to read and that's what comics should be right? Fun.